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PROS

CONS

Generic storyline and characters.

Heavily borrowed and conflicting influences.

Poor gameplay feature designs.

VERDICT

Eternal Legacy tries to give JRPG fans exactly what they want, but obvious influences aside it fails to deliver an experience on par with titles that are already extremely outdated; definitely one for the fans.

Full Review

App Store Info

Eternal Legacy by Gameloft is, unlike the gestalt would imply, a greater game than the sum of its parts. What this JRPG (Japanese RPG) flavored title represents is the genre in its most generic form and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it never really manages to lift above this baseline level.

Most of the gameplay in Eternal Legacy takes the form of exploration and combat in the 3D realm of Algoad. Instead of random encounters, players engage in battles with roaming packs of creatures and combat takes the form of turn-based actions (or ATB for those familiar with the term). The touch based menus are large and actions can be quick sorted for easy selection, allowing you to queue up to three moves in advance. Items can be customized with gems, providing additional skills (yes, like THAT game) and super moves can be activated once a progress bar is filled in battle. The actions of your companions are automatically dictated by the mode you've set them to (offensive, defensive, etc.) however those after an authentic old-school experience can set the game to full player control.

This by itself is quite enjoyable as far as RPG experiences go and progressing through the otherwise bland storyline is kept afloat by the occasional challenging boss battle and side-quests. That said, there's no excuse for frustrating features like being unable to use spells outside of combat; the inability to 'unequip' an item or a gem without replacing it; or failing to show the actions/bars of your other members. Furthermore, the adherence to JRPG tropes results in realizing that enemies have health bars that are in an order of magnitude so much higher than yours that it hardly makes sense.

These and a handful of other minor, yet frustrating details highlight the developer's lack of familiarity with the genre, resulting in a game that's more of a pastiche than an homage. JRPG fans may still want to take a chance with this game, but you're not missing out on anything you haven't seen before if you don't.

Description

Enter a huge world made of cinematic environments in this intense role-playing game, worthy heir on your iPhone and iPod touch of its Japanese predecessors.

ENTER THE WORLD OF ALGOAD
- An absorbing scenario implying heavy responsibilities: Astrian, you must save Algoad from destruction and restore the living bond between humans and nature.
- A mix of fantasy and sci-fi: fight with swords and guns, face robots and magic, and fly your own ship!
- Freely explore majestic regions: real-time rendered in full 3D, with free 360° camera.

A SMOOTH, THRILLING BATTLE SYSTEM
- Dynamic turn-based fights: preset your future attacks, which will be triggered one by one once your action gauge is filled.
- Epic combats, enhanced by full 3D artwork, numerous animations and a varied bestiary.
- Up to 3 characters will fight at the same time: select your team among your recruits and define your teammates' behavior.

LIVE YOUR OWN ABSORBING ADVENTURE
- Choose your own path by interacting with the environment, items, people and enemies, or solving puzzles to make your way through obstacles.
- Talk to the people you meet, featuring full voice acting: they may join your team, reveal some secret, give you a quest, and more.
- Perform sub-quests if you like, to extend the game’s lifespan and gain more experience.
- Customize your character and weapons: you master your destiny.

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Screenshots

Screenshot 1 of 10

Comments

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theanimaster3 years, 10 months ago

I posted my previous rant in the wrong game version. I meant it for the iPhone version. Anyways, this games sucks as much as a leech does when it's hungry for blood -- graphics, gameplay and design n' all. It uses pseudo-anime -- which is my term for CRAP designs done by people who like to pretend they're japanese.

TGamer174 years, 2 months ago

I'm a little disappointed guys. Not in this game, but the review itself. You can honestly give this a rating of an average 3 and yet give chaos rings a rating of 5? I find that a bit ridiculous, considering the stunning visuals this games offers as well as the awesome battle system that by the way, tops chaos rings in my opinion. I understand being generic and what not, but this is obviously Final Fantasy 13 on the iphone. What's so wrong with that? As an rpg fan, I can say without a doubt that no only does this game deliver, but it sets the bar alot higher for jrpgs in the appstore. So yes, Im a little disappointed.

andrew4 years, 2 months ago

Eternal Legacy sets the bar backwards in so many ways that my brain has started to develop a mild headache thinking about it again.

The visuals are emphatically not stunning - they're incredibly uninspired and in some places seemingly unfinished as you're graced with poor environment designs, distance fog that's disturbingly omnipresent and artwork that makes no sense whatsoever (For example: Why is the Rikku ripoff wearing that gear? At least FFX made a point of it being consistent with her desert tribe; furthermore, why is the main character sporting a Blade-gun? Unless I missed something he's not exactly using it like Squall in FF8. The list goes on...)
And lets not get started about the FF13 on the iPhone - if Gameloft had genuinely lifted the game wholesale to place on the iPhone, I'd be less disappointed, but the combat system is in no way interesting or fun (I'm sorry, but when you implement a queue system you're meant to be able to cancel out of it, you know, in case you need to heal) and what's so much better about this system than in Chaos Rings? At least in Chaos Rings you had an element system to consider and each fight was balanced tenuously on your ability to outdamage your opponent instead of lazily sitting back and spamming 'attack' until you win.

Also tell me - what JRPG forces you to equip new items instead of being able to unequip and pass them around the group? Why should I have to hold on to a spare item just so I can juggle my gear around the group? While I'm on the topic, why steal a concept like Materia from FF7 and not understand what made it so good? Oh gee wow, now I can use a fire spell - that's groovy and all, but it was the synergy or multiple Materia and the ability to level them up with your character that made it so special - actual character growth, not generic 1990s JRPG style 'oh look, you can now resurrect people!' character growth.

So no, this game does not 'deliver', it merely passes muster and provides hardcore fans with an outlet they feel they desperately need without giving anything to gamers who demand more variety and depth to their games. If people complain about Doodle Jump clones and Angry Birds clones or 'insert game here' clones on the iTunes store, then I'm going to say that this tops all of these purely because JRPGs as a genre has been around for a LONG time and not being able to create something marginally more exciting than stabbing 'Attack' for several hours is a sad reflection on those involved on the development of this game.

talugo4 years, 2 months ago

I don't want to ruin idea that you were just waiting for a request, but you amazingly completed a great review of this title in about a day after my request for review.
That being said, I'm glad I didn't just jump at the chance to spend my $7 without a review. I understand what you mean about generic RPG titles, even the beautifully rendered character models look bored with the game.
Unfortunately sir, you have fed the animal in the zoo, and look forward to plenty more requests for games I am afraid to spend money on.
Love the site Mr. Nesvadba and the AppSpy team, keep up the great work.